ES 10 -- The Earth
Midterm Exam -- Practice Version
05 February 1997

This is a practice version for the midterm exam for ES 10. The real exam is
similar to this one, and will also be 30 multiple choice questions.

There will be a review session on Friday, 7 February, from 5:30 to 7:30 pm in
Center Hall 105. Greg will be running that session, and will be going over the
practice exam then, as well as any other questions you might have related to
the midterm.

This practice exam, as with all the lecture notes, handouts, and homeworks, is
also available through Soft Reserves.

If the escape velocity from the Earth's orbit is 11 km/sec, how
many miles per hour is it?

The age of the Earth is determined by:

measuring of radioactive decay products

counting of sedimentary cycles

plotting distance against velocity of galaxies

analyzing solar spectra

The crust of the Earth is made up predominantly of

olivine

silicates

iron

hydrogen and helium

The primary source of energy in the Earth is:

the conversion of uranium to lead

the fusion of hydrogen to form helium

formation of glacial ice sheets

burning of fossil fuels

The asthenosphere can be described as:

being composed of partially molten rock and supporting the
lithosphere

having a solid inner core

being strong and riding atop the asthenosphere

being composed of crust some 4.6 billion years old

Covalent bonds are made by:

electrostatic attraction between ions produced by the transfer of
electrons between atoms from cations to anions

sharing of some electrons in such a way that they orbit around both
nuclei

electrostatic attraction between ions that are electrically
symmetrical

electrostatic attraction between ions with the same electrical
charge, but very different sizes

An isotope of an element is an atom that contains:

additional electrons that are placed in shells closest to the nucleus

one more proton than the original atom of the element

fewer electrons than the original atom of the element

different numbers of neutrons, which change the atomic weight of the
element, but retains the same number of protons, which control the
chemical properties

Polymorphs are different minerals that:

contain very different chemical compositions from one another

have the same chemical composition but have different crystal
structure

have different isotopes of the same elements

have different chemical compositions but identical physical
properties

Metamorphic rocks are:

sometimes called ``black smokers''

formed by ``cooking'' of other kinds of rocks

formed when rivers flood over their banks

formed from magma

The process that transforms a pile of sedimentary rock into loose
fragments is:

crystallization

metamorphism

lithification

weathering

The two elements in greatest abundance in the solar system are:

oxygen and silicon

hydrogen and helium

silicon and iron

iron and magnesium

Chemical weathering will be most intense in which climate?

warm and moist, where daily temperature variations are small

cold and moist, where daily temperature variations are large and
span the freezing point of water

warm and dry, where daily temperature variations are small

cold and dry, where daily temperature variations are large and span
the freezing point of water

In an syncline, the limbs dip:

away from the axial trace and the youngest rocks are at the
center

away from the axial trace and the oldest rocks are at the center

toward the axial trace and the oldest rocks are at the center

toward the axial trace and the youngest rocks are at the center

Rocks that are brittle tend to be associated with:

lakes and streams

folds

synclines

normal faults

When the magnetic field of the Earth is reversed, the:

Earth flips over in its orbit so that North is always up

sense of rotation of the Earth is reversed

magnetization of all existing rocks in the ocean is reversed to
match the orientation of the new magnetic field

magnetic polarity of the Earth is such that the north-seeking end
of a magnetic compass needle would point toward the south magnetic
pole

The oldest rocks in the crust are about how many years old?

6,000

20,000

200 million

3.8 billion

The Hawaiian Islands are the result of:

a hot-spot

a major transform fault like the San Andreas

an ancient continent-continent collision

a meteorite impact some 65 million years ago

We know the Earth's core is made of iron because:

the outer core does not transmit shear waves

of analysis of solar spectra and meterorites

there is a seismic shadow zone

of satellite gravity measurements

The type of fault which has steeply dipping fault surfaces, with the
hanging wall overhanging the footwall is:

a strike-slip fault

a normal dip-slip fault

an oblique fault

not possible

The principle that allows us to say that a rock layer in the middle of an
undisturbed pile is older than those overlying it and younger than those
under it is:

the principle of uniformitarianism

the principle of superposition

the principle of original horizontality

based on the number of radioactive isotopes in each of the
layers

If a continental area undergoes extension, such as what has occurred in
eastern Africa, the resulting feature is termed a(n):

overthrust

transform fault

rift valley

plunging anticline

The periods of the Tertiary Era, in chronological order begining with
the earliest, were:

Paleogene, Neogene, Quaternary

Archean, Proterozoic, Phanerozoic

Triassic, Jurassic, Cretaceous

Paleocene, Eocene, Oligocene

Which of the following is not a metamorphic rock?

schist

hornfels

gneiss

tholeite

If we find a rock in the field that has a crack along which relative
motion has occurred, we are looking at a:

fault

fold

syncline

joint

An overturned fold is one in which:

both limbs dip in different directions

the axial plane is vertical

the axial plane is inclined

the strata in one limb are horizontal

The sedimentary environment that would display the most sorted
group of clasts would be:

alluvial fans

a deep-water marine area

an organic reef complex

wind-deposited areas

Which mineral is least resistant to weathering?

amphibole

pyroxene

mica

quartz

The metamorphism of a limestone will produce which of the following
rocks?

schist

gneiss

slate

marble

Contact metamorphism is characterised by:

low-temperature, low-pressure metamorphism

low-temperature, high-pressure metamorphism

high-temperature, low-pressure metamorphism

high-temperature, high-pressure metamorphism

The degree of roundness of clasts in a sandstone at a single outcrop can
be used to infer the: